148 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



any obvious defect in the eyes. Tims other serious obstacles 

 that occur in the purchase of a saddle-horse is removed. 



Subject to these preliminary observations, we would sug- 

 gest that the form of a horse for single harness should be 

 carefully considered ; a full shoulder and a well-filled-up 

 loin are of consequence ; the action should be free, and 

 rather high than otherwise ; the body should be compact 

 and close, the legs short, and rotundity the character of the 

 whole. 



Steadiness is a great virtue in a gig-horse ; for his duty is 

 in the streets, where every provocation is given to the con- 

 trary, and where the least swerving from the direct line may 

 cause infinite mischief. It is quite impossible to decide 

 whether a horse deserves this character till he has been 

 tried ; but a single drive down Oxford Street and Holborn 

 Hill will put him sufficiently to the proof. A man who 

 buys a harness horse without first driving it himself is a 

 fit subject for a commission of lunacy. It is not enough to 

 put him in the break ; he should be harnessed at once to 

 the gig or dog-cart ; and it is prudent to observe closely how 

 he bears the ceremony of being harnessed, and what kind of 

 a start he makes. Much ma^^ be predicted of his qualifica- 

 tions for draught, or at all events of his familiarity with the 

 collar, by the degree of quiet with w^hich he allows himself 

 to be put to. If the ostler runs alongside of him at setting 

 off", as is often the case, you may be sure that the horse is 

 distrusted ; if you distrust him j^ourself, have nothing to do 

 with him. 



Sir George Stephen, in his little manual, already referred 

 to, gives the following illustrative anecdotes : 



" One of the best horses which I ever had in my life, as a 

 gig-horse, was a little animal scarcely fourteen hands and 

 an inch high, which I bought of a dealer named Thompson, 

 an excellent judge of a horse for harness. His case was in 

 some respects peculiar, and worth mentioning. I bought 

 him for a relative, of very light weight, but a timid rider. 

 He was about half-bred, and inclining in form to a cob. 

 My relative rode him for about two or three months, during 

 which time either he or the horse so contrived it as to fall 

 every ten days ; the last fall was a very serious one, and the 

 knees were much blemished. He would not have produced 

 ten pounds, though I had given nearly forty. I obtained 

 permission to break him into harness, which I did myself. 



